Final charge dropped against man cleared in '86 Waukegan rape

December 05, 2012|By Dan Hinkel | Tribune reporter

Bennie Starks spent 20 years in prison before he was freed on bond in 2006 and exonerated in May. (E. Jason Wambsgans, Chicago Tribune)

More than 25 years after Bennie Starks was charged with raping and battering a 69-year-old woman in Waukegan, Lake County prosecutors have agreed to give up the last vestige of a prosecution contradicted by DNA.

Three days into his first term as state’s attorney, Mike Nerheim said this afternoon he would agree to vacate Starks’ aggravated battery conviction. Nerheim’s decision today stands in contrast with those of his predecessor, Michael Waller, who worked to preserve the conviction until his retirement Friday.

“I just don’t believe it’s in the interests of justice to pursue this any further,” Nerheim said. “That’s why we’re going to end it now.”

Starks spent 20 years in prison before DNA evidence pointed away from him and he was freed on bond in 2006 pending retrial on the rape charge. Prosecutors dropped the rape case in May but had continued to try to preserve the aggravated battery conviction. Appeals judges in June ordered Lake County to hold a hearing at which Starks’ lawyers could challenge the battery conviction. Last week, the Illinois Supreme Court shot down prosecutors’ bid for review of that decision, leaving Lake County to either agree to vacate the case or fight Starks’ bid for a new trial.

Nerheim said he spent parts of his first three days in office reviewing the case file and talking with prosecutors and investigators who worked the case. The new prosecutor noted that the victim has died and Starks served many years more than his five year sentence for battery.

Starks’ attorney, Jed Stone, said he had spoken with prosecutors and agreed to go to court Friday morning for a hearing to vacate the conviction.

“I am overwhelmed with joy that the case against Bennie Starks is finally over,” Stone said. “(Nerheim) is doing the right, just, honorable thing, and I commend him on it.”

Nerheim has vowed to reform an office rocked by the disintegration of Starks’ and three other violent felony cases. In each case, prosecutors insisted on a man’s guilt after blood or semen evidence indicated his innocence. The men spent a total of 60 years behind bars before their cases crumbled.